The internet is the most powerful tool — we have for creating a more open and connected world. We can't let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet's development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet.

Come on Zuck, do you really mean it? — The Internet seems to have gone mad over comments by Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Facebook. Zuckerberg on Wednesday came out against the proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation and in a Facebook status message wrote:

A Political Coming of Age for the Tech Industry — With a Web-wide protest on Wednesday that includes a 24-hour shutdown of the English-language Wikipedia, the legislative battle over two Internet piracy bills has reached an extraordinary moment — a political coming of age for a relatively young …

In Face Of Protests, Congressmen Begin To Abandon SOPA Ship — In case you haven't noticed, a lot of sites like Reddit and Wikipedia are blacked out today in protest. Google blacked out its logo and is running a huge advertising campaign (including on TechCrunch) to get Internet users to sign petitions and oppose the bills.

MPAA Hits New Low In Self Pity Over SOPA — As you know, Wikipedia, Reddit and a few other sites are completely blacked out today, and many other sites are protesting in other ways. For example, if you head over to Google, you'll find the logo has a big black box over it.

The secrets Apple keeps — Undercover meetings! Stealth product developments! The world's most successful company is obsessed with privacy. In his new book, Fortune senior editor-at-large Adam Lashinsky finds out what it's really like to work at Apple and how its secretive behavior pays off.

Oracle says each day's worth of Android activations generates $10 million in annual revenues for Google — and strengthens Google+ — In the previous blog post, I have just reported on Oracle's bold move to propose to the court that it stay (or dismiss without prejudice) …

Zynga buys four mobile gaming companies — (Reuters) - Zynga Inc said it bought four small mobile game companies for an undisclosed sum as the top maker of Facebook games seeks to expand its lineup on smartphones and tablets. — The company's top mobile executive David Ko told Reuters …

Google+ Gets Video Status Updates — Google+ just got a feature that takes a bite out of YouTube. Google+ users can now post video recordings as updates to their circles. In the video sharing menu, there's now a ‘Record video’ option that turns on the webcam.

Amazon launches home-grown NoSQL database — Amazon Web Services is adding a home-grown NoSQL database to its ever-expanding roster of cloud computing offerings. DynamoDB is what Amazon CTO Werner Vogels called a “fully managed” NoSQL implementation that the company built and tested over the years.